Railroad joint



2 Sheets-Sheet l J. A. ROSS RAILROAD JOINT bwulu n i mMTHnN um.

June 23, 1953 Filed Feb. `2, 1951 A Harney r 0 l m v In.

2 .Sheets-Sheet 2 J. A. Ross RAILROAD JOINT .III I I I ,I

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I www June 23, 1953 Fild Feb. 2, 1951 A Harney Patented `lune 23, 1953UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILROAD JOINT J ohn A. Ross, Klamath Falls,Greg.

AApplication February 2, 1951, Serial No. 209,001

4 Claims. v 1

This invention relates to a novel construction of railroad joint capableof being attached to adjacent ends of railroad rails Without the use of'any fastenings thereby eliminating the necessity of constantmaintenance for tightening the nut and bolt fastenings as areconventionally employed for attaching railroad rails to joints andlikewise eliminating the danger of such fastenings being removed byunauthorized persons leaving the rails disconnected s that derailment ofrolling stock will result.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide ajoint formed of sections which are so connected that detachment of thesections is impossible except with the use of special tools andequipment and wherein no exposed fastenings are provided which can beremoved by an unauthorized person.

Another object of the invention is to provide a joint which is soconstructed that its manner of disassembly is concealed when the jointis assembled and secured to its supporting ties.

A further object of the invention is to provide a joint adapted toreceive the adjacent ends of adjacently disposed rails and which willpermit the rails to slide a limited distance longitudinally of the jointwithout being disengaged therefrom so that the rails may expand orcontract and may move slightly longitudinally when iexed by the weightof rolling stock thereon and Without danger of becoming disconnectedfrom the joint, to thereby afford sufficient flexibility of the rails toprevent breakage of the rails due to the rails being held too rigidly,as now frequently occurs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a joint which can berigidly secured in place due to the fact that no expansion andcontraction of the joint must be compensated for thereby making itimpossible for one rail to displace another rail longitudinally of therails in either direction so that each rail is coniined by the joints ateach end thereof to a specic space between the adjacent ends of thejoints which space is sufcient in length to accommodate the length ofthe rail and a suicient additional space of approximately one-half inchto compensate for expansion of the rail.

A further object of the invention is to provide a joint which by conningeach rail to a specic space makes it impossible for adjacent rails to bedragged one by another and which frequently results in spaces beingcreated between adjacent ends of adjacent rails considerably longer thanone-half inch and which are therefore aptto cause derailments.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, andA wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View showing the assembled rail jointwith adjacent ends of adjacent, aligned rails connected to the ends ofthe joint;

Figure 2 is a top plan View thereof taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the joint with the shplate removedtaken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line .3--3 ofFigure 1;

Figure 4 is a similar View with the shplate applied taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 4--4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view through the joint and rail takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5 5 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional View taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 'i-l of Figure 6 and showing the rail joint in endelevation;

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of one section of the rail joint;

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Figure 10 is a side elevational View of the other section of the railjoint;

Figure 11 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Figure 12 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line I2l2 of Figure 10;

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the rail joint section illustrated inFigures 8 and 9;

Figure 14 is a similar view of the rail joint section illustrated inFigures 10 and 11, and

Figure 15 is a perspective view looking toward the bottom of the shplateemployed with and as a part of the rail joint.

Referring more specically to the drawings, the novel railroad rail jointin its entirety is designated generally I6 and consists of a rail jointsection, designated generally Il, a rail joint section, designatedgenerally I8, a fishplate, designated generally I9, and a fastening,designated generally 20.

The rail joint section Il, as best illustrated in Figures 8, 9 and 13,includes a pair of elongated vertically disposed substantially parallelwalls 2l having corresponding outwardly and downwardly extending ilangesat their bottom edges forming base portions 22. The flanges 22 areconnected by an integral bottom portion 23 which is disposed in a planeat a right angle to the planes of the walls 2| and which is providedwith a recess 24 formed in the outer end of the section I, for a purposewhich will hereinafter become apparent. One end of a rail head 25 isdisposed on the -upper 'edges of the walls Y2| and terminates in spacedrelationship to the outer ends of said walls and substantially intransverse alignment with the inner end of the notch or recess 24. Theopposite end portion of the rail -head 25 extends substantially beyondthe opposite, inner ends of the walls 2|. A web 26 `which may be formedintegral with or suitably vsecured to the underside of the rail head '25vis disposed lon? gitudinally thereof and centrally with :respect 'tothe opposite longitudinal sides of the rail head 25. One end of the web26 is disposed between and suitably secured to the walls 2:| and theOpposite end thereof, which is substantially co-extensive with the lastmentioned end of the rail head 25, which extends beyond the inner vendof the side walls 2|, is provi-ded with a downwardly opening notch -21and an outwardly opening notch 28. The notch 28 is disposed directlybeneath the unsupported end of the rail head 25 and the notch 21 isspacedfrom the inner ends of the walls 2| and from the terminal -of theexposed end of the web 26 to provide a web portion 29, located betweenthe walls 2| and notch 21 and a web portion 30, :located between theexposed terminal end of the web 26 and the adjacent end of the notch 21.The walls 2| may be provided with aligned fastening receiving openings3| between their outer ends and the adjacent end of the rail head 25.

The joint section |8 includes a pair vof side walls 32 spaced the samedistance apart as the walls 2| but which are substantially longer thansaid walls 2|. The walls 32 are provided with corresponding anges 33which extend from end-to-end thereof and which :form base portionscorresponding in cross .section to :the base portions 22. The outeredges of the base portions 33 'are integrally connected from end-toendthereof by a plate 34 forming the, joint section bottom. The bottom 34is provided with a recess 35 at the outer end of the joint section |S,corresponding to the recess `24. IThe opposite end of the bottom 34 isyprovided with a longitudinally disposed outwardly opening 'notch 36which is centrally disposed with respect to the side edges of the bottom34. -An elongated .l'ongitudinally disposed slot 31 is formed .in theIbottom 34 between the notch 36 and recess 35 and in alignment with saidnotch 36. The notch 36 and slot 31 combine to form a :portion 38.,disposed therebetween, for a purpose which will hereinafter becomeapparent. A rail head 39, which is substantially shorter than the railhead 25 is secured in any suitable manner to portions of the upper edgesof the walls 32 and longitudi nally thereof and has lone end disposedsubstantially intermediateof the ends of fsaid walls 32 and an oppositeend which terminates adjacent to but spaced from the outer `end of thejoint section I8 and substantially in alignment with the inner end ofthe recess 35.

The flshplate I9 includes a substantially dat plate or bottom portion 40of a length greater than the length of eitherof the joint sections andsubstantially equal to the length of the two joint sections whenassembled. Said bottom portion A4|) is provided with integral flanges 4|which extend from end-to-end of its side edges and which projectupwardly and inwardly from its upper surface. The side edge portions ofthe bottom 40 and flanges 4| are provided with longitudinally spacednotches 42 in each side edge thereof so arranged that complementarynotches of the two side edges are disposed in transverse alignment. Thebottom portion, rintermediate of its ends, is provided with alongitudinally disposed keyhole-shaped opening, designated generally 43,including a large end 44 and an elongated restricted end 45 in the formof a slot, one end of which opens into the enlarged portion 44. Theunderside of the bottom 40 on either side of the slot 45 is providedwith ramp surfaces 46 which are inclined from the closed end to the openfend Iof the slot 45 so that the ends of the ramp or cam surfaces 46,disposed adjacent the enlarged opening 44., are positioned .near theupper surface of the bottom 40 and the opposite ends of said surfaces 46merge with the under,- side of the bottom 40 at the closed end of theslot 45.

The fastening 20 comprises a bolt including a shank A41 having a head 48at one end thereof and a right angularly extending opposite end -orterminal 49.

The adjacent ends 50 and -5| of two longitudinally aligned adjacentlydisposed railroad :rails are shown. The .rail end 50 .ts inte the outerend of the joint section I1., as best illustrated in Figure -6, with theweb portion of said rail end disposed between portions of the walls 2|,lthe head of said rail end .resting upon the upper edges of the walls 21and abutting 4or substantially abutting the .adjacent end of the rail.head portion 25 and the base of the rail end 50 being disposed in therecess 24 beneath the flanges 22. Thus, the walls 2| prevent lateral.movement of the rail end 5|) relatively to the joint |6, the base ofthe rail engages under the anges 22 to prevent the rail end 459 frombeing displaced upwardly relatively to the joint and the head of therail resting upon the upper edges of the walls 2| prevent the rail end50 from being displaced downwardly relatively to the joint I6. YHowever., the rail end 50 may slide longitudinally of the joint |6 inwardlythereof until its head .abuts the adjacent end of the head port-ion 25.The rail end 5| is similarly disposed with respect to the outer end ofthe joint section |8 with 'its web between portions of the walls 32, its.head resting thereon l and extending ltoward but normally spacedslightly from the Iouter end of the hea-d portion 39 and its basedisposed in the recess 35 vbelow the flanges 33.

With the rail ends 50 and 5I thus engaged in the remote ends of the`joint sections :Il and I6, the exposed end of the web 26 of the jointsection I1 is inserted downwardly between the walls 32 of the jointsection I8, between the inner end of said section |'8 and the adjacentend "of the head portion 39. When the joint section |1 is thus moveddownwardly until the rail head Dortions 25 and 39 are disposed in thesame plane, the web portion 30 will fit into the 'slot 31 and the webportion 29 will t into the notch v36. Likewise, the bottom portion 38 ofthe .joint section |8 will t into the notch 21 of the web 26. asillustrated in Figure 6, to retain the joint sections againstlongitudinal movement wit-h respect to one another. As thus assembled,'the inner end of the slot 31 is spaced from the ter-A `Ininal of theweb 26. `applied longitudinally of the joint sections I6 and .Theilshplate I9 is then I1 from either end thereof with its bottom 4Dengaging under said joint sections and its flanges 4I engaging over thebase portions 22 and 33. The fishplate I9 is slid or drivenlongitudinally of the joint sections until its enlarged opening 44aligns with the exposed end of the slot 31. After the opening 44 hasbeen aligned with the exposed end of the slot 31 the terminal end 49 ofthe fastening 28 is inserted upwardly through the openings 43 and slot31 until the bolt head can be positioned in the enlargement 44. Thefishplate I9 is then displaced from right to left of Figure 6 to engagethe terminal 49 in the web notch 28 and further movement of theiishplate from right to left will cause the cam surfaces 46 to ride theupper or inner side of the bolt head 48 to draw the bolt 2l] downwardlyso that its terminal 49 will engage on the upwardly facing shoulder ofthe notch 28 to thereby retain the joint section I1 -against upwarddisplacement relatively to the joint section I8. When flshplate I9 isthus driven from right to left to cause the cam surfaces 45 to ride overthe bolt head 48 to displace the bolt 20 downwardly the fastener head 48will be disposed beneath the cam surfaces 46 and the terminal 49 will beabutting the upwardly facing shoulder of the notch 28 to thus preventthe joint section I1 from being displaced upwardly relatively to thejoint section I8 to thereby lock the joint sections in assembledrelationship.

Conventional railroad spikes 52 are then driven into ties 53 on whichthe joint I 6 is supported and engage in the notches 42` and against theside edges of the flanges 22 and 33 to hold the fishplate and jointsections lagainst longitudinal movement to thereby anchor the joint I6against any movement relatively to the ties 53 on which it is supported.

If desired, nut and bolt fastenings 54 may extend through the alignedopenings 3l and through elongated slots 55 of the rail end 50 to fastenthe rail end 50 to the joint section for a limited sliding movementrelatively thereto; however, the fastenings 54 are not necessary and arepreferably not employed. The side walls 32 are likewise provided withaligned openings 56 to register with the notch 28 and through which anut and bolt fastening 51, as seen in Figure '1, may extend toadditionally secure the joint sections I6 and I1 together although thisis not required and the fastening 51 is likewise preferably omitted.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the rail end 5l mayslide a limited distance longitudinally in the outer end of the jointsection I8 without being disengaged therefrom to allow for expansion andcontraction and to afford sufficient flexibility of the rail to allow asufficient yielding thereof under the load of rolling stock passingthereover. Similarly, if desired the rail end 50 may slidelongitudinally relatively to the joint section I1 a sufficient distanceto allow for expansion, contraction and flexibility of the rail Iandwithout being disengaged therefrom; however, the opposite end, notshown, of the rail end 50 preferably is movable relatively to an end I8of another joint I6, not shown. It will thus be apparent that aplurality of longitudinally spaced joints I6 will afford xed spacestherebetween in which rails connected to adjacent ends of adjacentjoints may move sufciently longitudinally to afford expansion or,contraction of the rails and ample flexibility thereof. However, theadjacent ends of adjacent rails are not fastened together and arecapable of individually moving toward and away from one another so thatany longitudinal movement of one rail will not produce any pull or pushon an adjacent aligned rail.

Various modifications and changes are contemplatedand may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.y

I claim as my invention:

l. A railroad joint, adapted to be interposed between adjacent ends ofaligned rails comprising two rail joint sections having abutting railhead portions terminating in spaced relationship to the remote ends ofsaid sections, said joint sections having recessed outwardly openingremote ends adapted to slidably receive the adjacent ends of twoadjacently disposed rails for individual longitudinal sliding movementof the rails relatively to the ends of the rail joint, said rail jointsections having spaced parallel wall portions partially defining saidrecessed ends between which portions of the webs of the rails aredisposed for longitudinal sliding movement, above which portions of theheads of the rails are disposed and supported to retain the railsagainst downward displacement relatively to the joint and beneath whichportionsof the bases of the rails are disposed to retain the railsagainst upward displacement relatively to the joint, one of said railjoint sections having an exposed web provided with la notched bottomedge, said other rail joint section having an opposite inner endrecessed to accommodate said web, said last mentioned recess openingupwardly for application of or removal of the web through the top ofsaid other rail joint section, and said last mentioned rail sectionbeing provided with a bottom portion provided with a longitudinallyextending slot and notch for accommodating portions of the web and forinterfltting engagement with the notched bottom portion of said web toretain the rail joint sections against lengthwise sliding movementrelatively to one another when assembled with said web interfitting inthe recessed bottom of the last mentioned joint section.

2. A rail joint as in claim 1, said rail joint sections having laterallyenlarged longitudinally aligned base portions, a fishplate having anupwardly opening channel for receiving and partially overlying said baseportions, said fishplate being slidably applied to the base portionslongitudinally thereof and having a bottom provided with an opening forregistration with an exposed end of the slot of the bottom portion ofsaid last mentioned joint section, a headed fastening insertableupwardly through the iishplate opening and slot having an angularlydisposed upper end, said exposed web having a notch opening outwardly ofan end thereof to receive the angularly disposed end of said headedfastening, and said iishplate having cam surfaces on its undersideadjacent the opening thereof to engage over the head of said fasteningto displace the fastening downwardly when the fishplate is displaced inone direction relatively to the joint and headed fastening whereby theweb is anchored to the shplate and thereby secured against upwarddisplacement relatively to the last mentioned joint section.

3. A rail joint as in claim 1, the head portions 7 'of the jointsections being :spaced from the remote ends of said joint sections 'a'distance ap- .'pioX-imately equal to the length of the nrecesses in:said remote ends of the joint sections for accommodating the adjacent`ends of the hea-ds fof 'the rails on the :joint sections beyond theyremote ends of the rail hea-'d portions thereof.

4. .A rail joint as in claim l, the head portions ofthe joint vsectionsbeing spaced from the 'remote ends of said joint sections a distanceappro@- 'mateiy equal to the length of the recesses in :said remote endsof the joint sections for accommo dating the adjacent ends of the yheads"of lthe rails on the joint sections beyond the remote ends of the :railhead portions thereof, and said Lrecesses the `remote ends 'of the jointsections each being of a .length to accommodate the sli-d ing movement'of the rails .in 'directions lungi 'spasms tudinaily thereof tocompensate for expansion or contraction lemi normal tiexlmz of the mswithout disengagement of 'the rails from the .recessed remote ends vofkthe Joint.

JOI-IEN A. RQSS.

References Cited in the le of this patent IYSZLATES PATENTS Number NameDate '322,412 Brooks July 21, 1885 f667,945 Lugar Feb. 12, 1901s864,001) Kalna. Aug. 20, '1907 875,735 Rich Jan. "7, T908 -'884,2'68Endee Apr. V7, '190B '1,080,017 .Meadows Dec. 2, '1913 '1;4325'4'9 Hail.v '17, 4'1922

